View full sizeMolly Harbarger/The OregonianDave Majer, the owner of Steak Shack, cooks fries in Milwaukie's first food cart. The cart specializes in ribeye steak sandwiches, burgers, fries and onion rings. It's located along McLoughlin Boulevard next to the 76 gas station in Milwaukie.

View full sizeMolly Harbarger/The OregonianFor $9, I got a ribeye sandwich with grilled mushrooms, sauteed onions and lettuce and a side of french fries and fry sauce.

Milwaukie’s first food cart, Steak Shack, opened quietly the last week of January. It took a few weeks, but suddenly Twitter began buzzing about the silver truck next to the 76 gas station that Dave Majer sells burger-and-fry fare out of on McLoughlin Boulevard in Milwaukie.

Majer also serves hot dogs and chicken sandwiches accompanied by fries and onion rings. He offers most condiments free, and charges a small fee for cheese, grilled mushrooms and bacon.

His specialty is a ribeye steak long enough that he folds it in half. He then puts it on a regular burger bun and lets you pick the toppings.

You can add cheese for 50 cents to any sandwich, but to Majer, it’s next to sin to muddy the taste of the ribeye with the American, Swiss or pepper jack he offers. It’s nothing against his ingredients, it’s just that he chose his menu because Portland offers a variety of Philly cheesesteak sandwiches, but no “real steak” sandwiches.

He recommends the pepper jack, though, if you must add cheese.

Majer worked in a restaurant as a teen, but spent the last 25 or so years selling cars. When his family moved from Toronto, Canada, to Portland for his wife’s job, he saw his opportunity to try something new.

“I didn’t want to start that again because it’s nights, it’s weekends,” Majer said, leaning out the window of his cart shortly after opening Friday.

So, with under $20,000 invested in his setup, Majer set up shop when he saw the gas station owner’s ad on Craigslist looking for a food cart to move in.

“Come summertime, this’ll be a great location,” he said, because it is near Milwaukie High School, downtown and looks straight at Milwaukie’s Riverfront Park on the other side of McLoughlin.

Steak Shack is open from 11 a.m. to 5 or 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, with plans to open Saturdays soon.